Rob BrannonGeneral troublemaker and instigatorNCOWS SenatorNCOWS #357http://www.ncows.org/KVC.htm"I hereby swear and attest that I am willing to fight four wild Comanches at arm's length with the ammunition I am shooting in today's match."

I was asked by a couple of people to share the story lines for the stages. All stages were based on military events that occured in or very near Kansas and connected with the Frontier Forts.

Stage 1

In September 1864, General James Blunt, commander of the military district, took charge of a body of troops at Fort Larned and marched westward, looking for Indians. About seventy-five miles west of the fort on September 25, Blunt attacked an encampment estimated to contain more than three thousand Kiowas, Arapahos, and Cheyennes. He routed and pursued them for several days, reportedly killing nine and wounding many more. The Indians finally escaped, and the troops – two of whom were killed and seven wounded – returned to Fort Larned. Thwarted by cold weather, Indian raids in Kansas decreased in 1864, but hostilities in Colorado increased.

Stage 2

In February 1867, Indian interpreter Fred Jones claimed that Kiowa chief Satanta told him that the Indians wanted all military posts removed from the Plains, Santa Fe Trail traffic to be stopped at Council Grove, and the railroad to the stopped at Junction City. If this were not done, the Indians would combine and drive the whites from the region. Such reports – even if untrue as this one turned out to be – convinced military leaders than an Indian uprising was imminent. In response, Major General Winfield S Hancock, commanding the military department, organized a force of fourteen hundred troops.

Hancock led his forces to arrive at Fort Larned on April 7, 1867, where he hoped to meet with Indian leaders. A snowstorm delayed the planned meeting. When the Indian leaders did not come to the fort, Hancock marched his command up Pawnee Fork to where some Cheyennes and Sioux were encamped. The approach of the large body of soldiers frightened the women and children, and the encampment was hastily abandoned. Hancock was convinced that the Indians must have been hostile or they would not have fled. Later, Hancock received reports that Indians had attacked stage stations along with Smokey Hills Trail. Assuming that Indians who had fled Pawnee Fork camp carried out these attacks, Hancock ordered the village, tipis, and all other property burned. His orders were carried out on April 19. His destruction of the Indian village probably contributed to the increase in Indian resistance during the summer of 1867 later known as Hancock’s War.

Stage 3

On June 26, 1867, a large force of Indians came near Fort Wallace. Captain Barnitz and about 49 men gave them battle for more than three hours. The troopers were nearly trapped by the Indians following an attempted decoy and ambush. Barnitz called it “a desperate little fight…doubtless the most extensive engagement that has occurred for some time, on these plains.” Indian losses were estimated at twenty. The troops experienced 7 killed and 6 wounded. The bodies of the slain soldiers were badly mutilated. Warfare on the plains continued.